The State of Kansas has asked a federal court to set aside a decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior that allows the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma to build and operate a casino on land in Park City, Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced today. In May, the tribe announced that the Department of the Interior had taken regulatory steps to allow a tribal casino to be built on the parcel of land. The unexpected announcement reversed a previous decision from 2014, in which the department had rejected the tribe’s request to build a casino on the parcel. The tribe purchased the parcel in 1992. … At issue is whether federal law authorizes the enterprise; Kansas law prohibits casino gaming at that location, so the tribal casino may only be built if federal law overrides the state prohibition. Kansas has strongly defended its state-law prohibition. Other plaintiffs joining the State of Kansas in this lawsuit are Sumner County and the City of Mulvane, which are home to the Kansas Star casino that is the only casino authorized by state law in south central Kansas… The lawsuit, State of Kansas ex rel Derek Schmidt v. David Bernhardt et. al., was filed today in federal district court in Kansas. A copy of the state’s petition is available at https://bit.ly/31S88c3.
(Read more: Kansas Attorney General News Releases)
(AP) — Construction has begun on a tribal casino near Wichita, despite a lawsuit from the state seeking to stop the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma from operating the casino. Kansas sues to block Wyandotte Nation casino in Park City info 2020-08-11T07:34:07-05:00 August 11th, 2020 The State of Kansas has asked a federal court to set aside a decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior that allows the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma to build and operate a casino on land in Park City, Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
© Provided by Wichita-Hutchinson Plus KWCH-DT Land proposed for tribal casino near Park City.TOPEKA, Kan. (KWCH) - The State of Kansas Monday announced that it’s asked a federal court to set aside a U.S. Department of the Interior decision that allows the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma to build a operate a casino in Park City.
The announcement from Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt follows the Wyandotte’s announcement in May that the Department of the Interior had taken regulatory steps to allow the tribe to build its casino on a parcel of land near 77th North and Interstate 135.
“The unexpected announcement reversed a previous decision from 2014, in which the department had rejected the tribe’s request to build a casino on the parcel,” the state said.
The tribe purchased the parcel north of Wichita in 1992.
Schmidt said although the state was involved in previous discussions about allowing gaming on the land, the state wasn’t told that further discussions were underway between the tribe and the Department of the Interior, or that the department was considering reversing its position. He said the state learned about this from news reports.
“[N]o notice of any kind was provided to Kansas or any of the other plaintiffs despite their significant participation in the administrative proceedings and litigation involving the proposed the Park City trust acquisition between September 2010, and July 2014,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit is the latest in the decades-long dispute over the Wyandotte Nation’s legal authority to build a casino on the Park City land. At issue is whether federal law in this instance overrides Kansas’ prohibition, which the state has strongly defended.
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The state said Sumner County and the City of Mulvane, home to the state-owned Kansas Star Casino are among other plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
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“Defendants are David Bernhardt, secretary of the Department of Interior, and Tara Sweeney, assistant secretary-Indian Affairs of the Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs,” the state said.
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